Authorities in Thailand have warned that kennels are fit to bursting after more than 2,000 dogs bound for dinner tables in South East Asia were seized in the last six months.

Dog is considered a delicacy in parts of Vietnam and China, and strays and domestic pets are being snatched in increasing numbers from Thailand's streets before they are transported abroad.

Sompong Lertjitcharoenboon's dog, Tao Tao, was stolen before Christmas. It was a month before Chinese New Year, when demand for dog meat rises sharply.

"We lost him after a fireworks display," Mr Sompong said. "I thought he was just scared and would come back. We would get up in the middle of the night whenever we heard dogs barking."

As the weeks passed, Mr Sompong and his wife came to accept that Tao Tao was not coming back.

We are a Buddhist country that believes in reincarnation, so to kill the dogs is a sin”

Then Thai television broadcast pictures of a lorry laden with 800 dogs crammed into cages. The vehicle had been stopped as it attempted to cross the border into Laos.

The bust took place in Nakhon Phanom, where Capt Teerakiet Thong-aram from the Thai navy conducts patrols to try to prevent the smuggling of both dogs and drugs across the Mekong River.

"Dog meat is not popular in Laos. It's just a passageway. This is the easiest way for smuggling," he said, explaining that the planned destination for the animals was almost certainly Vietnam or China.

"People around here pay 300-400 baht ($9-13/£5.70-8.30) for a dog. The price goes up to 1,000 baht ($32/£20) or more in the third or fourth countries."

Dogs with dark fur are more highly prized, both for their skins and apparently a more distinct taste.BBC